Beschreibung:

A Chinese Changsha polychrome whistle, xun, Tang Dynasty, modelled in the design of a recumbent beast, 4.8cm high; A Chinese Changsha polychrome decorated bowl, Tang Dynasty, 15cm diameter; a twin handled miniature jarlet, Tang Dynasty, 5cm high; a miniature water pot, Tang Dynasty, 5.5cm diameter; and a small bird-formed ornament, Tang Dynasty, 6.2cm wide, with two Japanese wood boxes (5)The whistle is a rare variation from the clay or ceramic whistle known as a xun, which is among the oldest musical instruments in China. The xun was initially made of baked clay or bone in an egg-shaped form, usually containing three finger holes in front and two thumb holes in the back. Glazed ceramic whistles of this type modelled to depict a foreigner appear to have been produced in the Tang dynasty, at kilns in Northern China. See for example, a group of green-glazed 'foreigner' xun whistles excavated at Neiqiu, Hebei Province, illustrated in Xing kiln in its Millennium, Beijing, 2007, p.71. See also whistles modelled as monster masks, such as a Tang dynasty example illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum. Ceramics, vol. 4, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Beijing, 2013, pl.126; and two sancai-glazed examples illustrated by Xie Mingliang, Zhongguo gudai qian youtao de shijie (The world of ancient Chinese lead-glazed wares), Taipei, 2014, pls.4.37 and 5.94.唐 長沙窯三彩獣型塤等一組共五件